The city of Indianapolis plans to announce a major initiative to turn a stretch of 16th Street northwest of downtown into a hub for biotechnology and other high-tech companies.

The Metropolitan Development Commission on Wednesday preliminarily approved Advion BioServices Inc.'s request for a tax abatement to build a laboratory at Purdue Research Park in Indianapolis.

The government's allegations read like a spy novel: Dr. Ke-xue "John" Huang lands a job at Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences and over five years works himself into a position of trust, with access to trade secrets and processes the company has invested $300 million to develop.

A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday in Indianapolis charged 45-year-old Ke-xue "John" Huang with theft and attempted theft of trade secrets to benefit a foreign government.

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Ke-xue Huang, a native of China's Hunan province, of stealing trade secrets of a Dow AgroSciences insecticide and giving them to the People's Republic of China. Federal agents arrested the former Dow Agro scientist July 13 in Westboro, Mass.

Bioanalytical Systems Inc. narrowed its losses in the second fiscal quarter despite a 2 percent drop in revenue, the West Lafayette-based contract research firm said late last week.

West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. has promoted Anthony S. Chilton to CEO following the retirement of top executive Richard M. Shepperd earlier this year.

The firms continued to grow over the last year but face increasing challenges, according to a new report by Indianapolis-based life sciences trade group BioCrossroads.

A report set to be released Wednesday by local life sciences industry group BioCrossroads says Indiana companies providing contract pharmaceutical research and manufacturing services are weathering the economic downturn and are growing.

Shareholders are starting to make inroads in their effort to turn struggling West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. in a new direction.

It took Pete and Candace Kissinger 33 years to build West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. into one of the largest contract research firms in Indiana's life science sector. It took just a year and a half for them to turn against the company's new management.

NASA begins to award more grants to Indiana firms and universities.